Shikhi Sharma has bagged Woman Icon of the Year Award

Shikhi Sharma has bagged Woman Icon of the Year Award

• December 09, 2022

Shikhi Sharma (born March 16, 1988, in Jaipur, India) is a senior manager at the Indian Bank, the government of India, and a novelist known for her second novel, "Unbeatable" (2021), and her debut novel, "Life as It Comes" (2015). Shikhi was born into a joint family in Rajasthan. Her father, Rahul Sharma, is a retired banker, and her mother, Indra Sharma, is a government school teacher. She grew up in Jaipur and attended St. Anslem's School in Jaipur, where she completed her schooling. 

She started writing for the school magazine at the age of 8 and graduated from Government College Udaipur in the Electrical Engineering Department. She has also been a debater and competed at the national level in 2008-09. At the age of 24, she married Tarun Sharma, her batchmate from engineering who is now working in the state government's Rajasthan electricity department. Shikhi also has a 6-year-old daughter named Tashvi. Shikhi writes in English and prefers to get most of her writing done at night.

Shikhi, an engineer turned banker, is passionate about writing. She ardently believes in channeling her literary talents to tell meaningful stories that have the power to touch lives and make an impact on the world.

Her first novel, "Life as it Comes," was published in 2015 and became an instant bestseller. The book was based on her personal experiences as an engineering college student. 

Her second novel, "Unbeatable," was published in late 2021. "Unbeatable: Celebrating Life with Cerebral Palsy" is the real-life story of a boy who suffers from cerebral palsy and dyslexia. But with his family’s support and help, he fights all odds and clears his NET JRF examination. 

Unbeatable captures the inspiring story of Tapasvi, who embarks on an extraordinary journey through the challenges of cerebral palsy to make his dreams come true. With the unflinching support and courage of his father, Ajay, he paves his way through a highly skeptical society and makes a name for himself. presenting this compelling true story of the exemplary father-son duo, which is brimming with the power of love, hope, and faith. 

Shikhi got inspired by the true story of this young boy, Tapasvi, and decided to make this inspirational story reach millions of kids and parents who are struggling with this disorder and create hope in them that it is very much possible to achieve despite the disability. 

Through the book, Shikhi tried to convey an important message to society about accepting disabled and differently abled persons. She believes that if given a chance, these kids can do wonders; it’s just that we, as a society, need to accept them as one of us. Unbeatable is the real story of one of her maternal cousins, and she believes that the process of writing this book has changed her as a person and taught her the true meaning of life, which is to hold on and never give up in the face of adversity. 

"There can be nothing more liberating than proving your mettle to yourself and breaking your own boundaries." Sadly, our society often sees differently-abled people as less capable than others. "So when someone breaks this presumption, through their words and actions, it makes life better for a larger set of people," says Shikhi. 

The book also shares anecdotes from medical professionals, special educators, and several others. Along with a compelling story of a young boy, the book’s pages also hold information from experts on what cerebral palsy is, its causes, risk factors, forms, and early signs.

The book also covers a major reality that the families of kids suffering from cerebral palsy face. Citing the protagonist Tapasvi's case, she writes, "Usually, other parents get rejection letters when their child enters college." In Tapasvi’s case, the rejections started rolling with the first standard itself. 

The family appealed to every school in Jaipur to enroll the child, but all of them rejected the application without even having a conversation. I was tenacious about giving him a proper, formal education, but where could I possibly send him? There was no school that was ready to admit him. All the big schools claimed to admit differently-abled children, but the reality was very different. I tried getting Tapasvi into many of these schools, but no one admitted him, saying that they lacked the staff and resources to support him.

Sometimes, the school would take him for seven days, but they would send him back home with a reparation letter, stating:

"Sorry, Mr. Sharma, your ward cannot pursue his education in our school."

Since the release of the novel in late 2021, the book has found immense popularity, positive reviews, and success. The book has received special praise from noted Indian para-athletes. "This book brings to us an inspiring story of dedication, hard work, unconditional love, and their unbeatable spirit," says Shatabdi Awasthi, Gold Medalist in the Berlin World Grand Prix and International Para Athlete.

The book was also presented to the "Honorable Governor of Rajasthan," Sh. Kalraj Mishra, in December 2021. The book has attracted a wide adult audience as well as younger readers. Shikhi was invited as a speaker at "The Ahmedabad International Literature Festival" to raise awareness about gender discrimination among differently abled kids. At the festival, she said that "our society is ready to accept a disabled child in the case of a male child, while a disabled female is looked down upon; also, their safety becomes a major issue for the parents as these kids are not able to defend themselves easily." "This is something that we, as a society, have to raise awareness about."

"Unbeatable" has been featured by various newspapers, some of which are The Hindu, The Indian Express, The Pioneer, The Print, Rajastan Patrika, The Times Bureau, and News 18. 

The book is available at all bookstores, at all airports across India, and also at online platforms like Amazon, Goodreads, Google Books, Kindle, and Flipkart. Recently, Shikhi was invited by around 20 bookstores in Delhi and Mumbai for a book signing and author interaction. The book is now available in 14 countries, including Japan, the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia.

Over the years, Shikhi has been the proud recipient of some prestigious honors. She was awarded "Women of Rajasthan" by respected MP Diya Kumari Ji in March 2021, organized by "We, the Women of Rajasthan." She was also the winner of the 2022 International Women's Awards in India. She also won the Asian Author Female Award and the AIWAA 2022 Award, alongside Winning being the winner of the 3rd edition GIWL 2022 Award. She was also named "Guest of Honor" by the Mrs. India Foundation in the Divalicious Mrs. India contest held in March 2022. Most recently, she won the India 5000 Award (for 2022). 

There have been many felicitations for achievements in banking, writing, women's empowerment, and environmental awareness and protection. 

Apart from being vocal and raising awareness about social issues pertaining to our society, she has also been actively involved in various voluntary services for the upliftment of Indian society. During the first and second waves of COVID, she was on duty as government banks were open to all. During that period, she provided food packets to more than 1500 families in Jaipur. She and her staff distributed food packets at multiple railway stations in Jaipur. They also supplied food packets to the police station at Shipra Path, and from there, with the help of police staff, they distributed food packets in the nearby areas. 

She has also been a strong believer in education for upliftment, especially among females. She has regularly conducted workshops and female empowerment sessions in the government school in Charanwala. She has also given financial aid to government schools at regular intervals for providing stationery to kids. She has also donated personal computers and other items to the local government school. She regularly writes about cerebral palsy on her blog and provides actionable resources for people who want to learn more about this condition.

She has already started writing her third novel, which is a compilation of short stories based on real-life incidents. 

Other than being a writer, she is an avid reader and has the habit of reading a new book every week. She resides with her family in Jaipur. Shikhi believes in the power of hard work and in not stopping till the goal is achieved. Her articles have been featured in various magazines and newspapers. She loves spending time with her family and her pet dog, Tommy.